All of the above contributing factors don’t usually happen by themselves. Since the body functions as a whole, a problem in one area will usually correlate to problems in others. A combination of the factors above can be the catalyst for a full blown case of diabetes (or a lot of other diseases). While researchers often look at a single variable when trying to discover a cure for a disease, often the best approach is one that addresses the body as a whole. As with all diseases, the best cure is good prevention, but certain measures can help reverse disease once it has occurred.
Try to keep carbohydrate amounts stable across the day (some choose lower carbohydrate targets), stand more and sit less and include activities that increase the heart rate and also strength based activities most days across the week. Think about the amount of stress you experience to see how it is increasing your blood glucose levels. If you smoke – stop because it is speeding up the damage to your blood vessels. If you drink alcohol, limit how much you drink.
Triglycerides are a common form of fat that we digest. Triglycerides are the main ingredient in animal fats and vegetable oils. Elevated levels of triglycerides are a risk factor for heart disease, heart attack, stroke, fatty liver disease, and pancreatitis. Elevated levels of triglycerides are also associated with diseases like diabetes, kidney disease, and medications (for example, diuretics, birth control pills, and beta blockers). Dietary changes, and medication if necessary can help lower triglyceride blood levels.

If I could only prescribe one supplement for a diabetes patient, I would prescribe R-alpha-lipoic acid. Alpha-lipoic acid has numerous benefits to the diabetic patient. It is a water- and fat-soluble antioxidant and has been shown to protect patients with fatty liver from liver disease progression. It can help reduce insulin resistance and has been shown to protect people with diabetes from developing complications in their nerves, eyes, and kidneys. R-ALA can prevent glycosylation of proteins, which reduces the A1C level. It is safe, although very rarely it can cause stomach upset. Alpha-lipoic acid is listed either as ALA or R-ALA. When listed as ALA, this means it contains two forms—the S isomer form and the R isomer form, in a 50:50 ratio. The key is to find a product that says it contains “R-ALA” instead of just “ALA.” A good daily working dose of R-ALA is 300 to 1,200 mg a day, which is the equivalent of 600 to 2,400 mg a day of regular ALA, if you buy a regular ALA listed product.

Vanadium is a compound found in tiny amounts in plants and animals. Early studies showed that vanadium normalized blood sugar levels in animals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. When people with diabetes were given vanadium, they had a modest increase in insulin sensitivity and were able to lower their need for insulin. Researchers want to understand how vanadium works in the body, find potential side effects, and set safe dosages.
Most of us ignored the manual, just plugged it in and tried to figure out the rest. That’s why we all had the blinking 12:00 on. Today, most new electronics now come with a quick start guide which has the most basic 4 or 5 steps to get your machine working and then anything else you needed, you could reference the detailed instruction manual. Instruction manuals are just so much more useful this way.

Everybody and their brother is jumping on the Diabetes bandwagon. I remember when Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. Gabriel Cousens were the only two advocating a vegan diet to reverse Type 2 Diabetes and nobody was listening. Now, it seems there is some Doctor who pops out of the woodwork who claims to have the “Real” cure. Bottom line a ketogenic diet is dangerous for diabetics. It has been proven through studies that high fat diets are detrimental for glucose control. Fasting is also hit and miss for glucose control. As each person’s body is different and responds differently, a keto diet may work at first, but over time blood sugar numbers will rise. I tried a keto diet for 8 weeks. First three weeks it worked great then my glucose numbers slowly started to rise and it started to get hard to control my numbers. Same with fasting. My body responds to eating smaller meals every two hours, 90% vegan and raw. I eat chicken and fish sparingly. It works for me. But, I have known many diabetics who ended up in a bad place on a keto diet. In the long run it is a big fail. There are no studies that support it, whereas there are numerous studies (even government funded studies) that support a vegan diet to reverse diabetes.

As of 2015 the guidelines called for an HbA1c of around 7% or a fasting glucose of less than 7.2 mmol/L (130 mg/dL); however these goals may be changed after professional clinical consultation, taking into account particular risks of hypoglycemia and life expectancy.[18][19] Despite guidelines recommending that intensive blood sugar control be based on balancing immediate harms and long-term benefits, many people – for example people with a life expectancy of less than nine years – who will not benefit are over-treated and do not experience clinically meaningful benefits.[20]

Peripheral artery disease (PAD), which commonly affects the legs, is the hardening and narrowing of the arteries that can result from a build-up of plaque or fatty deposits in blood vessels outside the heart or brain. Because diabetics sometimes have reduced feeling in their feet and legs, they often do not feel symptoms of PAD and it goes undiagnosed and untreated. The Diabetes Treatment Center at Desert Springs Hospital take a proactive approach to PAD and provides free Ankle Brachial Index screenings for patients.

Before making any fiber recommendations, Dean has her patients tested for “pancreatic insufficiency.” She believes people with pancreatic insufficiency should be given digestive enzymes along with fiber, “otherwise the fiber will just bloat them up, and they’ll be quite unhappy,” she says. Dean uses a glucomannan fiber supplement for her patients with type 2 diabetes.

Implementing integrative and functional medical nutrition therapy, I helped the patient understand that she could reverse the trajectory she was on by making lifestyle changes—and that’s what she did. We engaged in shared decision making in our ongoing nutrition consultations. Over the course of one year, her physiology and health status changed for the better. Her A1c dropped from 7.2% to 5.6%, and she no longer required medications. She continues to adhere to her new lifestyle program and is confident she’ll remain free of a diabetes diagnosis.
Diabetic persons are advised to make morning appointments to the dental care provider as during this time of the day the blood sugar levels tend to be better kept under control. Not least, individuals who suffer from diabetes must make sure both their physician and dental care provider are informed and aware of their condition, medical history and periodontal status.
Sugars raise insulin levels, and over extended periods of time, damage the pancreas and cause insulin resistance, a precursor for diabetes. Fructose is the top offender in the sugar world, as it is recognized as a toxin the body and has no proven benefit to the body. Fructose is immediately taken to the liver, where it must be processed, and some doctors now suggest that this may be a large factor in development of fatty liver disease. Excess sugar in the bloodstream also increases the release of cortisol and adrenaline (more on those in a minute), slows the immune response, decreases necessary Leptin levels and promotes fat storage. There are various types of sugar and sweeteners, and while all should be limited, some are worse than others:
In medical world, diabetes is known more commonly by the name of diabetes mellitus. In simpler and day-to-day language, it is referred as diabetes. It is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced, or the body does not produce enough insulin. In both the conditions, the body is not able to get enough amount of insulin to function properly.

Once you have diabetes, it is there for life. I help people to get their blood glucose levels back to or as near as possible the normal range. Firstly this will help you to feel better in the short term but it also helps to protect your blood vessels which can become very irritated and damaged by high glucose levels. Focussing on healthy eating, limiting unprocessed foods and getting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in the diet helps.

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.